Mike Vrabel lays out expectations for players in fiery speech to kick off Patriots' offseason program
The New England Patriots have won six Super Bowl titles, but, in recent years, the Patriots have experienced more losses than wins.
New England has finished four of the past five seasons with a losing record. Mike Vrabel, who played linebacker for the Patriots for eight seasons and won three Super Bowls with the team, is now tasked with turning the once proud franchise around.
During his playing days, Vrabel learned what it took to reach great heights in the NFL. This week, the first-year Patriots coach laid out some of the expectations he has for players.
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As the 2025 NFL Draft nears, the Patriots are kicking off their offseason program. Some key points from Vrabel's first formal address to the team earlier this week have since circulated on social media.
Players will be required to leave cellphones in their personal bags.
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"We've all got cellphones," Vrabel said. "Most of you have more than one, as a matter of fact. Just leave the cellphone in your bag. Just put the phone away."
He also wants players to be on time. If a player is running late, Vrabel instructed them to communicate. But he also doesn't want it to become a habit.
Vrabel then asked players to resist pulling sweatshirt hoodies over their heads during meetings.
"We're building our own identity," Vrabel said. "We're building our own team. We're building our own program. There are going to be things within that that are different ... and it's all about how we make you guys as good as you can possibly be as an individual, as a player and as a team. That's our whole goal, and you have to start understanding that — why we're doing what we're doing."
Vrabel also stressed that employees who work at the team's headquarters are there to "help" players be successful, but they are not the athletes' "housekeepers."
"They are here to help you do your job," Vrabel said. "They aren't here to be your valet, to be your housekeeper, to be your butler. You get where I'm going? We're going to treat those people with the utmost respect."
The Patriots and Bill Belichick agreed to part ways in January 2024 after the Patriots only appeared in one playoff game in the four seasons after Tom Brady's exit.
Shortly after Belichick's departure, Jerrod Mayo was named the Patriots' head coach. Mayo was dismissed after the 2024 season finale, and Vrabel took over. Vrabel was the Tennessee Titans' head coach from 2018-23 and spent the 2024 season as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns.
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